About Us
About us
Activities and goals of MGFSME
The Municipal Guarantee Fund for small and medium enterprises /MGFSME/ is founded on 17th of June 2002 with the decision of the Sofia Municipal Council /SMC/. MGFSME is a specialized body of the Sofia Municipal Council, which is formed by means of setting aside 10% of municipal privatization funds and accumulating them in a separate account at the Municipal Bank.
The purpose of MGFSME is to conduct the policy of Sofia Municipality for easier access of SMEs to credit institutions and EU funds and to carry out consultation of SMEs on opportunities for application in operational programs. The work process of the fund is regulated by special work program, accepted and recognized by the Sofia Municipal Council. Our work program has been developed by following the priorities of Sofia Municipal policy to support the small and medium enterprises located in the territory of Sofia Municipality. The SMEs that we are working with must be registered in the territory of Sofia Municipality or the business-project to be implemented in the territory of Sofia Municipality. MGFSME warrants to banks up to 50% of loans to SMEs, but not more than 100 thousand BGN, irrespective of the loan amount.
Priorities to support SMEs
SMEs have an advantage, other things being equal, for a guarantee from the Fund if: female entrepreneur, disabled person or young entrepreneur up to 30 years old.
Business projects are considered first, if are in:
- Information technology and information services;
- Export oriented industries;
- Production of environmentally friendly products, machinery and equipment, contributing to conservation and environmental improvement;
- Leisure Services in the field of sport, culture, youth activities and other similar events;
- Services provided by home based doctors, dentists, rehabilitation therapists and psychotherapists;
- Purchase of patents and licenses related to the principal investment;
- Implementation of new technologies and technological lines;
- Know-how and staff training;
- Establishing of systems for quality management;.
Guarantees issue process
The business activity of MGFSME –SM is carried out by following the individual guarantee scheme in two ways:
- Ex-ante scheme, in which the client first fills and sends the required documents to the MGFSME. Then the guarantee fund sends the client to the banks. In this scheme, the client is previously studied and assessed whether the fund is ready to assume the guarantee commitment to the company. This happens after the final examination of candidates by the bank.
- Ex-post scheme, where the client sends its documents to the Bank. After the bank approves the client’s application for credit, it makes a proposal to the MGFSME for guarantee support, together with the approved credit.
Since the beginning of its activity till now the Municipal Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises (MGFSME) examined 348 requests for guarantee support, has made a guarantee commitment to 276 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for obtaining loans totaling 36,660,293 BGN. The guarantee commitment to 31.12.2009 is 4 622 898.50 BGN and there are no overdue or unpaid loans.
The purpose of our team is to actively support and encourage SMEs within Sofia Municipality, which is a prerequisite for increased economic efficiency of the business.
Consulting Activities of MGFSME
The Fund is carrying out consultations of SMEs in the following areas:
- Accounting services;
- Legal services;
- Management services;
- Services related to obtaining international certificates - ISO 9001, 14001, awarding of initial credit rating;
- Services for development of projects applying for open grants in operational programs;
The fund policy is that the client is not required to pay for consultation.
Governance
- Sofia City Council
- Management Board of the MGFSME – Municipality of Sofia
- Irina Yordanova - Chair of the MB
- Rossen Malinov - Deputy Chair of the MB
- Lorita Radeva
- Nikolay Zhelev
- Elen Gerdzhikov
- Manager - Kiril Grigorov
